Project Trays

Bird project tray

We are just starting our home education journey and I have been reading a lot around Steiner and Montessori methods, both of their methods advocate project based learning and it's something we have been trying out. I decided on a bird project as it's something Seth has a lot of interest in at the moment and with spring approaching it seemed appropriate. As we began we quickly gathered a small collection of crafts, treasures and books that we needed to find somewhere to keep and that's how I thought of setting up a project tray, it's portable, it's inviting and it promotes conversation and learning.

My project tray ideas -

• It should provide a sensory experience, whether that is see, smell, touch, taste or hear, in this basket we have picture books to see, feathers and seeds to touch and a bird whistle to hear.
• It could hold crafts that have been made as part of the project, here Seth has made a nest out of string and glue filled with a mix of plain and red cabbage dyed eggs.
• It could contain some books on the topic, fact and fiction.
• It provides a place to display treasures that have been collected during the project, so far we have some feathers and a bird whistle.
• It should have a notebook or scrapbook in as a place to write and record the project.

Some more ideas for things to keep in the tray, depending on age and project, are a camera, magnifying glass, bits of nature, souvenirs, photos and artwork.

What things would you put in a basket? Or do you already do something like this and do you find it useful?